Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing apparatus mounted on an image forming apparatus, such as an electrophotographic copying machine, printer or the like.
Description of the Related Art
A fixing apparatus mounted on an image forming apparatus, such as an electrophotographic copying machine, printer or the like, is generally configured to heat a recording material bearing an unfixed toner image while conveying the recording material at a nip portion formed by a heating rotational member and a pressing roller in contact with each other, thereby fixing the toner image onto the recording material.
In recent years, a fixing apparatus employing the electromagnetic induction heating method, which can cause a conductive layer of the heating rotational member to generate heat, has been developed and put into practical use. The fixing apparatus employing the electromagnetic induction heating method has such an advantage that the warm up time is short.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-026267 discusses a fixing apparatus that can ease limitations imposed on a thickness and a material of a conductive layer.
Even the fixing apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-026267 cannot be free from an issue of an increase in a temperature at a sheet non-passing portion when a small-sized recording material is processed by the fixing processing.
The present invention is directed to providing a fixing apparatus capable of easily controlling a temperature of a region of the rotational member that the recording material passes through while creating a heat generation distribution according to a size of the recording material.